The Cross of Lorraine has belonged to the region's heraldic arms for centuries. Local girl Joan of Arc adopted the cross as her emblem in the struggle against "ze feelthy Eenglish", who'd come to France in 1337 for an away match and refused to go home. Joan was born in the village of Domrémy in Lorraine. In 1429 Charles VII granted the village tax exemption in gratitude for Joan's victories. Domrémy's tax-haven status persisted until the Revolution, whereupon the Inland Revenue sent two bowler-hatted inspectors to demand 364 years' worth of tax arrears.
The Quiche of Lorraine is a different matter altogether. The word quiche is related to the German 'Kuchen', meaning cake, and the true Quiche Lorraine contains no cheese. If you find cheese in yours, then it's strictly a Quiche Vosgienne, and if you find onions, it's a Quiche Alsacienne. If you find Spam, send it back. Quiche got a bad name in Bruce Feirstein's 1982 book 'Real Men Don't Eat Quiche' (they eat Freedom Flans.) Real men might, conceivably, if they were really hungry, and if they had an impaired sense of smell, eat Lorraine's other delicacy, Andouille. Andouille is a sausage in which every part of the pig is used, except the grunt. The grunt, meanwhile, as well as the pig's entire gastrointestinal system, is used in the even-more-hardcore Andouillette. Come and have a go, Mr Feirstein, if you think you're hard.
La Résidence - THE French Property People
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